Posted on 05/23/2003 4:45:25 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Utah seeks gunmen for 2 scheduled executions
White supremacist, serial killer chose firing squad; appeal pending
05/23/2003
SALT LAKE CITY – The only state that dispatches condemned inmates by firing squad is assembling gunmen for back-to-back executions next month.
The nation's last execution by firing squad was in 1996.
Exercising their right under Utah law, serial killer Roberto Arguelles and Troy Michael Kell, a white supremacist who stabbed a fellow inmate to death, have chosen the firing squad over lethal injection and are set to die at 12:01 a.m. on June 27 and 28, respectively. However, Mr. Kell filed an appeal last week that will probably halt his execution.
Of the 850 inmates put to death in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, two have died by firing squad, both in Utah: Gary Gilmore in 1977 became the first person executed in the United States after the court's ruling, and John Albert Taylor was put to death 19 years later. Since 1977, Utah has executed four other killers, all by injection.
Death penalty opponents are protesting, contending that the firing squad amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. And the prison is bracing for large crowds of protesters.
Utah's use of firing squads predates statehood in 1896 and is a remnant of the early Mormon belief that bloodshed is a required punishment for taking a life, said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which says it is neutral about the death penalty but critical of its application.
"Certainly no other state has continued its use or allowed people to choose it. It's the one thing that stands out," Mr. Dieter said. The notion that murder must be atoned for in blood has never been part of official church doctrine, and the Mormon church has not taken a formal position on execution methods, said Robert Millet, a religion professor at Brigham Young University.
The Utah Corrections Department is recruiting law enforcement officers for two five-member firing squads, asking the police departments in the communities where the crimes were committed to nominate volunteers. The officers' identities will not be disclosed, and participants will be barred from talking publicly.
A hood will be put over the condemned man's head and a target will be pinned over his heart. The executioners will fire simultaneously from gun portals in a separate room at the inmate, seated in a chair about 30 feet away.
One of the five rifles will contain a blank so that no one will know who fired the fatal shots.
In 1992, Mr. Arguelles abducted and strangled Margo Bond, a janitor at a junior high school where he had been hunting for teenage victims. He also kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed two girls, ages 13 and 15, and stabbed a 16-year-old girl more than 40 times. He was sentenced to death in 1997. Mr. Arguelles has repeatedly said he wants to die.
Mr. Kell was convicted in 1996 of killing a black man, Lonnie Blackmon, at the Utah State Prison. Mr. Kell, serving time for a previous murder, stabbed Mr. Blackmon 67 times with a homemade knife in 1994. A prison videotape shows Mr. Kell shouting, "White power!" during the attack.
Utah has 11 men on death row. Besides Mr. Arguelles and Mr. Kell, two other inmates have chosen to die by firing squad.
In 1992, Mr. Arguelles abducted and strangled Margo Bond, a janitor at a junior high school where he had been hunting for teenage victims. He also kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed two girls, ages 13 and 15, and stabbed a 16-year-old girl more than 40 times. He was sentenced to death in 1997. Mr. Arguelles has repeatedly said he wants to die.
Mr. Kell was convicted in 1996 of killing a black man, Lonnie Blackmon, at the Utah State Prison. Mr. Kell, serving time for a previous murder, stabbed Mr. Blackmon 67 times with a homemade knife in 1994. A prison videotape shows Mr. Kell shouting, "White power!" during the attack.
A pity a killer can't be executed by the same means he used to kill his victims.
This subject was posted earlier. Sure "it" will happen. I will say again that many people would choose a firing squad over lethal injection if they had the option. Outside in fresh air as opposed to being strapped down to a table in some small room? it's a slam-dunk.
I'll commute from NJ.
This is why we must seize back our language and not allow the left-wing media, by default, to control the language agenda. "Gunman" is a loaded word that conveys significant meaning. It should be protested as extremely biased. Utah is looking for members of a firing squad. Utah NEVER said "gunman" and some leftist sleaze reporter slipped that in.
Notice how the media's been headlining this story: like being a white supremacist places someone in the same league as a serial killer and rapist.
Nope, other than attorneys argue on everything. However, if I understand correctly these slugs chose a firing squad. I would do the same. Definitely preferred to the supposedly "humane" lethal injection.
I'm not familiar with Utah cases. You may be right. If they did this in Texas, they're goners for sure !!
Loggin' out for the night. Be back here later tomorrow ! G'night folks !
Or "Ray".
And the prison is bracing for large crowds of protesters.
Sounds like a party. BYOSG (Bring Your Own Squirt Gun...to extinguish the candles, of course.)
And still, don't you think there are enough people actually willing to do this that there is no need of that worry? That is a bunch of feel-good emotional stuff IMO.
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